


Freckles and Constellations

by TankTopsGalore



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-19
Updated: 2018-06-05
Packaged: 2018-09-25 12:29:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,744
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9820613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TankTopsGalore/pseuds/TankTopsGalore
Summary: Cori Washington, George Washington's adopted daughter and former heir to the British throne, has had a hard life. But after meeting a man with the same goal as her own, John Laurens, her heart begins to open up to him and his friends, leaving constellations of emotion. This is the story of her life and death, intertwined with his, which will leave you laughing, crying, and begging for more.





	1. A Quick Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is an introduction to the Original character I'm using, since she is a fictional character instead of historical. It shows a bit of how she fits into history and a little bit of why she has certain goals. It also explains how she comes about some skill sets she may have. She is by no means invincible, and if ever seems that way, I'll have made a mistake that I'll be eager to fix. I hope everyone enjoys the story and becomes enthralled in my character.

Full Name: Coriander Washington

Originally the crown princess of Britain Daughter to King George II and Queen Caroline, Cori’s last name was Augustus, but she had it changed as she ran away to America shortly after her parent’s deaths, as King George III had a personal vendetta out for her considering that if she ever got married, she could seize the throne from him as her leisure. She had no desire to become queen, nor marry. All she wished to do was find a reason to live, something to fight for, making it easy for her to relate to Alexander in several levels. She wasn’t fond of her father, as he never tending to care for her, making both of her parents leave her with a nanny of sorts, a slave named Chrysanthemum, Chrissy for short. When George III came to get rid of her (i.e kill her) Chrissy had protected her to her last breath, allowing her to escape. As she left Chrissy, she said to her that she’d avenge her, or fight in her name. She ran to America, stowing on a ship and lived on the streets for several weeks when, by pure coincidence, George Washington passed her on the street and happened to feel terrible for her. She was starving and looked exhausted, and he himself was a newly appointed general, not yet married. He was lonely and saw this child and believed that he was meant to help her. So he took her home and raised her as his daughter. She began to show that she knew a bit about hand-to-hand combat. Eventually as she opened up to her new father, much kinder of a man than the last, the first thing she ever told him about herself is that she’d trained with a chinese sensei, who taught her everything there was to know about defending herself and fighting in general. Interested in the things she knew, he secretly used her as a right hand woman and for recruiting the best for the revolutionary army.


	2. Chapter 1

The girl was leaning back in her chair a little, her face in a book, seemingly not paying attention to anything around her. All around her, it was noisy, full of drunk men. The noise didn’t seem to bother her though. This particular day the tavern was filled to the brim, only to have more men come in every few minutes. It would have been incredibly easy for her to lose her target. But her focus was completely on her target, whom of which was a somewhat tall man by the name of Aaron Burr. She wasn’t hunting him by any means, as she had with previous men General Washington had sent her after. All she was doing was trailing the man, to see if he was worth recruiting for Washington’s right hand man. So far, it seemed not. As a matter of fact, she was getting quite bored watching him. He was so tame. But she supposed he was better than the loud imbeciles that kept shouting a table away from him. The kid Burr was talking to seemed interesting enough to investigate into more. She prepared to stand and move towards them and sit closer, but then the shouting man with freckles began talking to Burr. She’d been waiting patiently for a while, possibly 2-3 hours. One of her eyes started to twitch in aggravation, her eyes narrowing, a small groan escaping her throat. She regained her composure with a deep breath and stood up to walk towards them. She moved purposefully towards them, her face complete business as it tended to always be, her boots quiet on the floor as she walked. She didn’t get far, as the freckled man stumbled over a chair as he was running to get more drinks. He tripped with very little grace, arms flailing wildly, panic in his expression. The girl was slightly startled, but acted quickly, extending her arm to grab the front of his shirt and spin him around, using her foot to grab the chair he’d tripped over and drag it under him so that he’d be sitting down, all in one graceful and quick movement. The man blushed as he noticed it was a beautiful woman who’d saved his face from its date with the floor. He blushed, smiling widely, embarrassed and in awe of her cool, collected manner of raising her eyebrow at him and smirking. “Th-thanks!” “Of course. Try sobering up before walking again.” She continued her way towards the kid with Burr, who was laughing with the other 2 “ruffians” with the freckled man. She disregarded any looks she got from pulling up a chair to their table without invitation and sat down, staring at the kid. “C….Can we help you?” One of the men, who was obviously french asked, a slightly hostile look on his face. The other man seemed quite confused as well. “Hello. My name is Coriander. And you all are?” The kid laughed a little, a bright smile on his face. “What did you not hear these three announce their names to the entire tavern?!” Cori got a more pleasant look on her face. “Humor me?” The freckled man stumbled back over, making sure there were no other chairs in the way. He plopped down in his original chair, and smiled over at Cori. “I’m John Laurens! Nice to meet you! You said your name was Coriander? Can I shorten it to Cori?” Cori blushed slightly, her face becoming slightly hostile herself. “That is the name my father uses for me. If you find it easier, I suppose so.” John Laurens smiled more brightly at Cori. “Thanks!” The Frenchman saw his friend being comfortable with the woman in front of them and relaxed a bit. “I am Marquis de Lafayette. A pleasure to meet you Cori.” Cori smiled lightly at Lafayette, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. “A pleasure to meet you as well monsieur.” Lafayette relaxed completely at her use of the single french word, smiling widely at her as well. The other man that was with them smiled, though it somehow seemed more manly that the others. “Name’s Hercules Mulligan. Nice to meet you.” He leaned across the table to shake her hand, knocking down Lafayette’s glass, which seemed to be payback for earlier on when Lafayette had jumped onto the table and spilled Mulligan’s drink. Cori shook his hand firmly, not challengingly, but not weakly. Mulligan smiled approvingly, nodding his head. The kid leaned forward a bit and held out his hand. She had sat down beside him, making it easy for them to speak. “And I guess that leaves me. My name is Alexander Hamilton. It’s great to meet you.” Cori took his hand and shook it the same way she’d shook Mulligan’s. Alexander smiled at her. “Now, perhaps you could tell us why you’ve come to this table?” “I was curious.” Was all she would give him. Cori stood to go back to her table, leaving the men to speak again. As they began talking loudly about what they wished to do, something that John Laurens said caught Cori’s attention. And possibly her frozen heart. “We’ll never be truly free, until those in bondage have the same rights as you and me. Wait till I sally in on a stallion with the first black battalion!” She glanced up from the book she’d gone back to pretending to read and looked his way. Sure the man was drunk, but he seemed like a very honest man, wanted to end slavery and let them help with freeing everyone else. It was like Laurens had gripped the deepest wishes of her heart and just shouted them for everyone to hear. She decided to get up and leave, so a not to do anything brash, such as join in on their merriments. She needed to report back to General Washington anyways.


	3. Chapter 2

Cori walked into the house she lived in with General Washington and walked over to his study, eager to share her findings. She went to knock just as the door flew open, a man red in the face screaming at Washington, whom to his own credit, kept a straight face. Cori blushed and stepped out of the way of the angry man. The man glared at her, looking her up and down. “AND THIS WOMAN! SHE’S WEARING A MAN’S CLOTHES!” He shouted at Washington, angrier than before. Cori blushed and angrily stepped towards the man to argue with him. Washington simply smiled at the man and gestured to Cori. “Cori, I had no idea you were home. How did it go?” Cori was slightly taken aback, as she had never gotten used to how calm Washington could keep with some of these men. Her face flushed a bit as she stepped away from the man and into his study. The tone of his voice told her that this was a moment to address him, not as the General, but as who else he was to her. “Hello father! I arrived home just now.” She, as the major strategist of herself and Washington, knew exactly what he was doing. He was challenging the other man. The man may have been angry, but he wasn’t stupid. To argue with his General’s choices, even in his common life, would challenge his ways of commanding. Which would say he did not trust him. And trust was everything in an army. The man blushed, realizing who he had been criticizing, calming down a considerable amount. “I apologize, I didn’t realize this was your daughter.” Washington continued to smile. “It’s quite alright, it’s not as if you could tell by looking, she is adopted after all. Now, if you’ll please excuse me, I’d like to spend a bit of time with my daughter.” The man excused himself and left the room. Cori let out the breath she’d been holding since she’d gotten there. “I don’t know how you remain so calm all of the time. Especially when someone is yelling in your face like that.” Washington’s smile was replaced by a knowing smirk. “And you want to lead a battalion of your own one day? You’ll never get there with a temper like that. Now, tell me. How did it go? Was the tip useful?” Cori blushed at Washington’s jest and took a deep breath before explaining everything. “It was… a tad helpful. But not in the way you’d expect.” Washington raised an eyebrow, completely serious now. “Oh?” “The man I believe will be helpful as a right hand man, is not Aaron Burr. That man would be good as a soldier to take small orders. He has no ambition. But… he had a 19 year old with him. He sparked my interest. He has ambition and more. He’s smart, a strategist. He’s already planning financials and government ideas for if, or as he says, when, we win the war. And I’m sure you’ll hear of him eventually, because he has been speaking to the public more recently. His name is Alexander Hamilton.” Washington smiled at Cori. “He seems useful. Someone I could use. And how is he as a person in your opinion?” Cori kept eye contact with Washington. “He and I have a bit in common, so I’ve heard. His father left himself and his mother when he was quite younger. And his mother died of illness. He was born on an island in the Caribbean. He raised enough money to come here by writing his way out, as a hurricane had hit the area terribly, causing his mother and himself to fall ill and eventually his mother’s death. But despite these things, he still seems happy as ever, willing to fight for our freedom.” Washington stood up from his desk and stretched his legs. “Does he have any friends? How well do you get along with him?” “He made 3 friends while he was at the tavern actually. Marquis de Lafayette, Hercules Mulligan, and John Laurens. All of which want to fight in the revolution as well. And… well I guess I could count Aaron Burr as a friend of his. The weren’t hostile towards each other and seemed to get along fine. As for if we get along, you know I don’t aim for friendship. But he is a man I would befriend, despite this.” Washington walked over to the window in the room and glanced at Cori. “One of the names were French.” “Lafayette came from France to help fight in our revolution. He admires our willingness to fight the monarchy and hopes to spark revolution in France when he returns after the revolution here.” Washington turned around to look at straight at Cori. “And are any of these men, men you would fight beside?” Cori closed her eyes and opened them, seeming to have come to a decision. “I hope to fight beside one of them for years to come. He wants to end slavery. And so do I.” Washington’s eyes widened, surprised. “You… do?” His expression relaxed to a loving smile. “Cori, that’s more than you’ve ever told me. I’m happy you decided to open up to me.” Cori smiled back at him. “I’m reassured by the fact that you are allowing me to tell you at my own pace. That is all the information I have for you at the moment.” Cori turned to walk out of the room. “Hold on a moment. Which man are you speaking of with your last statement?” Cori turned around, smirking a bit. “John Laurens. Of course, he’ll need someone with a strategic mind by his side, as a second in command. His face almost met with the floor personally when we first met.” Cori made her way out of the room, unaware that she had the most emotional smile on her face she’d ever had.


	4. Chapter 3

A week before the Winter’s Ball.

Cori walked into Washington’s tent to get her mission. She had been told that she had a spy mission, much to Washington’s dismay. “You have a mission for me, General?” She asked with a quick salute. Washington sighed, shaking his head. “I think I’ve changed my mind Hamilton, I can’t send her-” “Sir, with all due respect, I believe that she can perfectly handle herself. She has had extensive training as she’s told you and is an excellent actress.” Alexander responded. “It’s far too dangerous, the man we need taken out is too experienced. He’d kill her easily.” Washington argued, immense disapproval in his expression. Cori stepped forward to join the conversation. “How about you tell me what the mission is and I decide if I have the ability to do it?” Alexander smirked and gestured to her, waiting for Washington’s response. Washington huffed. “Fine. Though I still believe we should get Mulligan to do it. The mission, if you choose to take it, is to kill an enemy spy without him getting word back to his commander. We received word from Mulligan that this man would be going to the Winter’s Ball in one week's time to listen in on conversations around the ball. We need someone to distract him, take him somewhere private to “talk”, then kill him in a timely fashion.” Alexander interjected politely. “It has already been discussed that it must be someone who would not be expected, someone not obviously on someone’s side. Since you’ve been shown to be a wonderful performer and excellent at acting, I suggested you, Cori. As no one would expect a woman to be a spy for the Revolution.” Cori nodded. “I would happily take this mission. I believe myself to be completely capable.” Alexander and Cori turned to look at Washington, who sighed, defeated. “Well, I’m outnumbered 2 to 1, with the 2 being strategists. I’m sure you both have a plan already.” Alexander adapted a devious grin. “As a matter of fact I do. Though it will involve Cori dancing.” Cori blushed and at the same time as Washington, argued the same point. “But I don’t know how to dance!” Alexander did a little twirl, a few dance steps, then posed. “I do. I could teach you. Of course this comes with a small condition.” Cori snorted quite unladylike. “Well I’m not interested in learning to dance. There’s no function for dancing.” Washington, however, was beginning to like the idea a bit. “What’s the condition?” Cori blushed harshly. “DAD!” Alexander’s devious grin returned. “I promised Laurens that I’d teach him to dance before the ball, so that he could ask a woman he likes to dance with him. I figure I could kill 2 birds with one stone and teach them both at the same time.” Cori groaned a bit. “I am NOT dancing with Laurens! I’m not dancing at all!”  
“Go ahead Hamilton.” Cori spun to face Washington. “FATHER!” Washington raised an eyebrow at Cori. She blushed and calmed down a little. “Dad. You know I have 2 left feet. We have a week until the ball. It’s not as if I’d been planning to attend otherwise. I see no reason to learn to dance. It’s an impractical skill.” Washington smirked. “On the contrary, it teaches balance and rhythm fundamentals, both of which help with hand to hand combat. Which last I’d heard was your specialty.” Cori blushed more. “Look. I understand you don’t wish to be embarrassed. But I assure you, you have nothing to fear. If anyone could learn to dance within a week, it would be you. You are the most capable person for this job. And you’ll be surrounded by reinforcements if need be, which brings myself more comfort. You’re a fast learner.” Cori looked into her adopted father’s eyes and nodded. “Yes sir.” There was no resentment nor anger in her eyes. There was fear and determination, telling him that her “sir” was not a taunt. “Good. We’ll start immediately!” Alexander said happily and spun on his heel to walk out of the tent. “What?!” Cori said, slightly panicked, racing after him. “You own a few dresses, correct? And heels?” Cori caught up to Alexander easily. “Of course I do. Why?”   
“Because to actually be able to dance in heels, you must practice in heels.”   
Cori’s eyes widened a little bit. “I actually have to practice in a dress and heels!? I’ll break my neck. I can barely walk in heels!” Alexander chuckled a bit. “Then you’ll have to practice that as well. We’ll start as soon as you get changed. Your father won’t mind if we use the ballroom of your house, will he?”   
“Of course not.”


	5. Chapter 4

The first time Cori attempted to dance in heels, the heel broke off of her shoe. Not only that, but as she walked down the stairs from her room, she clung to the railings for dear life. Cori was absolutely mortified. But Laurens seemed to be in good humor, as he never laughed at her mess ups, no matter how funny they were to Alexander. As a matter of fact, he seemed worried every time it seemed she may be injured in some way. The two were finally beginning to grasp the basics of dancing after 3 days of learning, gliding across the room with… well, more grace than they’d started with. Alexander watched the 2 with focus, seeing what they each needed to practice most. He stopped the music and clapped his hands to gain their attention. “Alright. I’m going to tell you both what you’re both going to be focusing on tomorrow. I will also be giving both of you a choice of music for tomorrow's practice. I feel as if that may help a bit with your… feeling of the music.” Alexander handed the both of them a book of music, specifically with words, as Cori’s mission would require her to be singing at the ball. Cori and Laurens took the books and nodded, both exhausted and sore from the dancing, as Alexander was a very strict teacher, making them do everything till it was up to his standards. Neither of them minded. Despite all of the pain, they knew he had their best interests at heart, hoping to get them up to par for the ball.

A Winter’s Ball

The night of the Winter’s Ball was a bit chaotic in the Washington household. George Washington consulting his wife Martha about which way was more stylish to wear his uniform, while a few rooms down, Cori was getting dressed as well. Alexander had helped her pick out the dress, as she believed that anything that would catch his eye, would catch everyone else’s. She smoothed out the soft silk of the front of her dress and slipped on her new heels, that she was much more comfortable wearing now. She walked down the stairs daintily, one hand gracefully sliding down the railing as she walked. George and Martha saw her walking down in the midst of them gathering their things and stopped to stare at her. Both of their mouths gaped open as they marveled at how well their daughter had cleaned up. Cori walked with complete confidence towards her parents and twirled once for them. “What do you think?” George was speechless. Martha, however, was not. “It’s beautiful! My goodness how well you clean up! You look simply stunning my dear!” Cori beamed with pride, as she’d done everything by herself to get ready. She didn’t request any words from George, she knew his expression and silence was a good thing. Martha nudged him, snapping him out of his trance. “I believe I may have to be fighting men away from you. You are absolutely beautiful, just as Martha said.” George smiled at Cori proudly. “Thank you, father. I should be off now, I have a mission to be on.” Cori beamed at the compliment. As she walked off, Martha noticed her husband sniff. “George, are you alright?” He sniffed again, a little harder, a couple of tears coming out of his eyes. “She called me father. Willingly.”


	6. Chapter 5

Cori arrived at the door to the Winter’s Ball and paused. She had to mentally prepare herself for the night to come. She took a deep breath and walked through the doors. Immediately Alexander saw her and smiled. He walked towards her and bowed, offering his hand. “You look absolutely breathtaking, my lady.” Cori blushed and smiled lovingly. “Why thank you, that is very kind of you to say Alexander.” She offered her own hand, with Alex taking it and kissing it softly. A throat cleared from behind him. “John? Is there something you wish to say?” Alex asked, knowing very well what he was going to say. “May I have your first dance?” There was slight hesitation in his voice, but there was sincerity in his voice. As if he’d been waiting for weeks to ask this question. Cori seemed confused, she’d been led to believe that John had someone specific that he wished to dance with. “Wasn’t there someone that you wished to dance with? Alexander mentioned something about that.” John blushed profusely. “I can’t believe you Alex, I asked you not to say anything!” He pretended as if he was angry, yet it was obvious he was joking. “The person I wanted to dance with… was you.” Cori took her turn to blush. “Oh.” Was the only word she was able to get out. Cori smiled sweetly at John Laurens, a man she admired, and held out her hand. “Of course I will dance with you. It is incredibly sweet of you to ask.” John Laurens was never much for words, but at that moment if you were to ask him if he had any thoughts, he would tell you his mind went completely blank. He couldn’t speak, he didn’t know what he’d say. All he could do was accept her hand and tell her through dancing. 

After their dance, Cori and John were laughing and chatting freely. They walked back over to their group and chatted with them for a bit, trying to make it look as if Cori had just been introduced for the mission’s sake. Honestly, they’d both almost forgotten that Cori was there for a mission, not to have fun. As she’d been doing a once over of the room, Cori had noticed a woman staring at Alexander, as if she were in love. Cori smiled at this, recognising her as the middle Schuyler Sister, Elizabeth “Eliza” Schuyler. Alexander was there to court one of them and she was glad to know he wouldn’t be forcing himself on them. Cori herself, decided to find the spy. She wandered the room until she noticed she’d caught his attention. The man was good looking, but he was no John Laurens, that was for sure. Cori found herself giggling at the thought, making herself put on a soft and kind expression instead of her usually icy stare. The man approached her, bowing as he came to her side. “Hello! My name is Paul Wentworth, might I have the pleasure of knowing your name?” Cori curtsied as he bowed. “It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Cori Washingon!” She made sure to sound as ditsy as possible, showing that she’d have information for him with her last name, yet wouldn’t know the weight of the information if she spilled. The talked useless chatter for a bit, danced for a bit, then she decided that it was time to try and get him alone.


	7. Chapter 6

Cori led the spy outside to the gardens of the building. The gardens had a beautiful flower maze, one could get lost within it. They wandered the the maze, Cori starting to spill a tad bit more useful information, nothing he could use if he lived, but it felt as if he were getting somewhere. They reached the middle of the garden, where a single red rose sat in the middle with a lantern lit above it. She pulled him over to the bench directly next to it and they both sat. “You know, it’s been great being able to talk about this stuff with someone, it’s like there’s no one to talk to sometimes. Thank you for listening to me ramble!” Cori smiled at Paul, who smiled in response. “I’m glad I’ve been able to help. It’s been a pleasure getting to know you. I’m afraid our time must be cut short though.” Paul responded, his hand falling away from hers, grabbing for his waistband. Cori had expected him to have a weapon of some sort, but she hadn’t expected him to be so blunt. It had seemed he realized that she wasn’t going to be giving anything else away. He pulled a gun out with force, pulling the trigger as soon as it was faced towards her. Cori was able to push his arm towards the ground before it fired, yet the bullet didn’t quite miss her. It had gone diagonally through her leg, entering and exiting. Cori winced, yet didn’t let up, she kept pushing on the arm and used her other hand to flip Paul over, slamming him into the ground. The sound from the gun was going to attract unwanted attention for both sides. After all, this was an assassination mission for Cori and a spy mission for Paul. Cori made things quick, flipping Paul onto his front not two seconds after he’d landed, retrieving her hidden knife from her garterbelt. Cori placed her hand over his mouth and with all of the cold iciness she was known for, she stared into his eyes, full of fear, as she slit his throat. She hurriedly stood up, only to be earthbound again, her bullet wound throbbing. She tore a piece of Paul’s shirt off, he wouldn’t be needing it now, and fashioned a bandage from it. She wrapped the makeshift bandage as tight as she could, though she knew she was pale from blood loss, she’d never be able to hide that. Cori ignored the pain from then on and went to work hiding Paul’s body, hoping to make it seem like a suicide in some way. Eventually she made her way out of the garden, no blood on any part of her outfit, and ended up passing the small group that had made their way out to see what had happened. A group that included George Washington.


End file.
